PSP World

Activision Suing Game Pirate

In a move taken directly from the RIAA playbook, U.S. games publisher Activision has taken legal action against someone accused of helping to pirate their game, Call of Duty 3. The company has brought suit against James R. Strickland of New York for copyright infringement, an act which includes illegally copying and distribution of games. There is no indication that the company plans law suits against other pirates at this time, although they won't have to look very hard to find potential targets. Gamers who pirate PSP titles, especially those from Activision, may want to sit up and take notice.

According to the legal complaint, "Plaintiff is informed and believes that Defendant, without the permission or consent of Plaintiff, has copied the Copyrighted Video Game and distributed the Copyrighted Video Game to the public. In doing so, Defendant has violated Plaintiff's exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution."

It is not clear how many copies of the game Mr. Strickland is accused of distributing, but things could get very expensive for him if he loses the case. The Santa Monica-based publisher is seeking statutory damages ranging from $30,000 to $150,000 for each infringement of each copyrighted videogame, as well as reimbursement of legal fees. Ouch.

While many have decried this aggressive action as another example of corporate greed and overreach in cyberspace, we fully support the actions of Activision. Piracy of video games is a massive problem, and as the creators of this original intellectual property, they have every right to protect it.

[Via Edge Magazine]